Generic online ranking system and method suitable for syndication

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, for ranking resources. One or more signals reporting one or more actions by the plurality of users related to a respective resource are received, where a reported action is a presentation of the respective resource, an addition of the respective resource, or a deletion of the respective resource. The reported actions include one or more short deletions of the respective resource. A respective long-addition click-through rate (LACTR) is determined for the respective resource based on a number of reported presentations of the respective resource and a difference between a number of reported additions of the respective resource and a number of short deletions of the respective resource. The plurality of resources are ranked based on the respective LACTRs for the plurality of resources. The ranking of the plurality of resources are provided.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A computer system comprising one or more computers, the computer system being used by a first subscriber server and a second subscriber server, the first subscriber server and the second subscriber server providing distinct data processing services that serve resources to client devices for presentation of the resources to users, the first subscriber server serving first resources to client devices and capturing user actions relating to the first resources, the second subscriber server serving second resources to client devices and capturing user actions relating to the second resources, the computer system being configured to perform operations comprising:
 receiving first signals from the first subscriber server, the first signals comprising information characterizing user actions relating to the first resources, the first signals reported by client devices, the first signals comprising first values for one or more predefined parameters and values for a first subscriber-specific parameter that is specific to the first subscriber server; 
 receiving second signals from the second subscriber server, the second signals comprising information characterizing user actions relating to the second resources, the second signals reported by client devices, the second signals comprising second values for one or more of the predefined parameters and values for a second subscriber-specific parameter that is specific to the second subscriber server; 
 receiving a first request from the first subscriber server, the first request comprising information characterizing a first user; 
 providing first ranking data to the first subscriber server in response to the first request, the first ranking data generated by a ranking process based on the first signals and the information characterizing the first user; 
 receiving a second request from the second subscriber server, the second request comprising information characterizing a second user; and 
 providing second ranking data to the second subscriber server in response to the second request, the second ranking data generated by the ranking process based on the second signals and the information characterizing the second user; 
 wherein the ranking service process uses no information about the first or the second subscriber-specific parameters other than information received from the first and the second subscriber servers, respectively. 
 
     
     
       2. The computer system of  claim 1 , the operations further comprising:
 providing to the first subscriber server and the second subscriber server a signaling format, wherein the first signals are transmitted by the first subscriber server to the ranking service in accordance with the format and the second signals are transmitted by the second subscriber server to the ranking service in accordance with the format. 
 
     
     
       3. The computer system of  claim 2 , wherein the signaling format comprises a format for embedding a signal in a Universal Resource Locator (URL);
 the first signals are transmitted in first URLs; and 
 the second signals are transmitted in second URLs. 
 
     
     
       4. The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 user actions with the first subscriber server relating to the first resources comprise user interactions with the first resources in a virtual environment provided by the first subscriber server; and 
 user actions with the second subscriber server relating to the second resources comprise user interactions with the second resources in a virtual environment provided by the second subscriber server. 
 
     
     
       5. The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first signals comprise one or more first resource identifiers defined by the first subscriber server, the first resource identifiers identifying the first resources, the first resource identifiers having no a priori significance to the ranking service; and 
 the second signals comprise one or more second resource identifiers defined by the second subscriber server, the second resources identifiers identifying the second resources, the second resource identifiers having no a priori significance to the ranking service. 
 
     
     
       6. The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first values for the predefined parameters and the values for the first subscriber-specific parameter qualify the user actions relating to the first resources characterized in the first signals; and 
 the second values for the predefined parameters and the values for the second subscriber-specific parameter qualify the user actions relating to the second resources characterized in the second signals. 
 
     
     
       7. The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the predefined parameters comprise at least one of language, geographic region, and category. 
 
     
     
       8. The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first subscriber-specific parameter has no a priori significance to the ranking service; and 
 the second subscriber-specific parameter has no a priori significance to the ranking service. 
 
     
     
       9. The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the first signals comprise a third signal having third values for first ones of the predefined parameters and a fourth signal having fourth values for second ones of the predefined parameters, the first ones and the second ones of the predefined parameters having a parameter in common, the first ones having a parameter not in the second ones and the second ones having a parameter not in the first ones;
 the method further comprising: 
 blending the third signal and the fourth signal if a blending condition is satisfied. 
 
     
     
       10. The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the first signals comprise an identification of the first subscriber server and the second signals comprise an identification of the second subscriber server. 
     
     
       11. The computer system of  claim 10 , wherein the identification of the first subscriber server comprises an identification of a subdivision of the first subscriber server and the identification of the second subscriber server comprises an identification of a subdivision of the second subscriber server. 
     
     
       12. The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first signals comprise one or more first user identifiers defined by the first subscriber server, the first user identifiers identifying users who performed the user actions; and 
 the second signals comprise one or more second user identifiers defined by the second subscriber server, the second user identifiers identifying users who performed the user actions. 
 
     
     
       13. The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the ranking service has no information regarding the first resources other than the information provided by the first signals; and 
 the ranking service has no information regarding the second resources other than the information provided by the second signals. 
 
     
     
       14. The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 receiving first signals from the first subscriber server comprises receiving the first signals from the first subscriber server absent pre-registration by the first subscriber server with the ranking service; and 
 receiving second signals from the second subscriber server comprises receiving the second signals from the second subscriber server absent pre-registration by the second subscriber server with the ranking service. 
 
     
     
       15. The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first signals comprise information characterizing the user actions relating to the first resources by an aggregation of at least a subset of the users; and 
 the second signals comprise information characterizing the user actions relating to the second resources by an aggregation of at least a subset of the users. 
 
     
     
       16. The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein the users comprise an entity. 
     
     
       17. The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first signals comprise an aggregated signal characterizing a plurality of user actions relating to the first resources; and 
 the second signals comprise an aggregated signal characterizing a plurality of user actions relating to the second resources. 
 
     
     
       18. A computer program product, encoded on a non-transitory computer readable medium, operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
 receiving first signals from a first subscriber server, the first subscriber server serving first resources to client devices and capturing user actions relating to the first resources, the first signals comprising information characterizing user actions relating to the first resources, the first signals reported by client devices, the first signals comprising first values for one or more predefined parameters and values for a first subscriber-specific parameter that is specific to the first subscriber server; 
 receiving second signals from a second subscriber server, the second subscriber server serving second resources to client devices and capturing user actions relating to the second resources, the second signals comprising information characterizing user actions relating to the second resources, the second signals reported by client devices, the second signals comprising second values for one or more of the predefined parameters and values for a second subscriber-specific parameter that is specific to the second subscriber server; 
 receiving a first request from the first subscriber server, the first request comprising information characterizing a first user; 
 providing first ranking data to the first subscriber server in response to the first request, the first ranking data generated by a ranking process based on the first signals and the information characterizing the first user; 
 receiving a second request from the second subscriber server, the second request comprising information characterizing a second user; and 
 providing second ranking data to the second subscriber server in response to the second request, the second ranking data generated by the ranking process based on the second signals and the information characterizing the second user; 
 wherein the ranking service process uses no information about the first or the second subscriber-specific parameters other than information received from the first and the second subscriber servers, respectively. 
 
     
     
       19. The computer program product of  claim 18 , the operations further comprising:
 providing to the first subscriber server and the second subscriber server a signaling format, wherein the first signals are transmitted by the first subscriber server to the ranking service in accordance with the format and the second signals are transmitted by the second subscriber server to the ranking service in accordance with the format. 
 
     
     
       20. The computer program product of  claim 19 , wherein the signaling format comprises a format for embedding a signal in a Universal Resource Locator (URL);
 the first signals are transmitted in first URLs; and 
 the second signals are transmitted in second URLs. 
 
     
     
       21. The computer program product of  claim 18 , wherein:
 user actions with the first subscriber server relating to the first resources comprise user interactions with the first resources in a virtual environment provided by the first subscriber server; and 
 user actions with the second subscriber server relating to the second resources comprise user interactions with the second resources in a virtual environment provided by the second subscriber server. 
 
     
     
       22. The computer program product of  claim 18 , wherein:
 the first signals comprise one or more first resource identifiers defined by the first subscriber server, the first resource identifiers identifying the first resources, the first resource identifiers having no a priori significance to the ranking service; and 
 the second signals comprise one or more second resource identifiers defined by the second subscriber server, the second resources identifiers identifying the second resources, the second resource identifiers having no a priori significance to the ranking service. 
 
     
     
       23. The computer program product of  claim 18 , wherein:
 the first values for the predefined parameters and the values for the first subscriber-specific parameter qualify the user actions relating to the first resources characterized in the first signals; and 
 the second values for the predefined parameters and the values for the second subscriber-specific parameter qualify the user actions relating to the second resources characterized in the second signals. 
 
     
     
       24. The computer program product of  claim 18 , wherein:
 the predefined parameters comprise at least one of language, geographic region, and category. 
 
     
     
       25. The computer program product of  claim 18 , wherein:
 the first subscriber-specific parameter has no a priori significance to the ranking service; and 
 the second subscriber-specific parameter has no a priori significance to the ranking service. 
 
     
     
       26. The computer program product of  claim 18 , wherein the first signals comprise a third signal having third values for first ones of the predefined parameters and a fourth signal having fourth values for second ones of the predefined parameters, the first ones and the second ones of the predefined parameters having a parameter in common, the first ones having a parameter not in the second ones and the second ones having a parameter not in the first ones;
 the method further comprising: 
 blending the third signal and the fourth signal if a blending condition is satisfied. 
 
     
     
       27. The computer program product of  claim 18 , wherein the first signals comprise an identification of the first subscriber server and the second signals comprise an identification of the second subscriber server. 
     
     
       28. The computer program product of  claim 27 , wherein the identification of the first subscriber server comprises an identification of a subdivision of the first subscriber server and the identification of the second subscriber server comprises an identification of a subdivision of the second subscriber server. 
     
     
       29. The computer program product of  claim 18 , wherein:
 the first signals comprise one or more first user identifiers defined by the first subscriber server, the first user identifiers identifying users who performed the user actions; and 
 the second signals comprise one or more second user identifiers defined by the second subscriber server, the second user identifiers identifying users who performed the user actions. 
 
     
     
       30. The computer program product of  claim 18 , wherein:
 the ranking service has no information regarding the first resources other than the information provided by the first signals; and 
 the ranking service has no information regarding the second resources other than the information provided by the second signals. 
 
     
     
       31. The computer program product of  claim 18 , wherein:
 receiving first signals from the first subscriber server comprises receiving the first signals from the first subscriber server absent pre-registration by the first subscriber server with the ranking service; and 
 receiving second signals from the second subscriber server comprises receiving the second signals from the second subscriber server absent pre-registration by the second subscriber server with the ranking service. 
 
     
     
       32. The computer program product of  claim 18 , wherein:
 the first signals comprise information characterizing the user actions relating to the first resources by an aggregation of at least a subset of the users; and 
 the second signals comprise information characterizing the user actions relating to the second resources by an aggregation of at least a subset of the users. 
 
     
     
       33. The computer program product of  claim 18 , wherein the users comprise an entity. 
     
     
       34. The computer program product of  claim 18 , wherein:
 the first signals comprise an aggregated signal characterizing a plurality of user actions relating to the first resources; and 
 the second signals comprise an aggregated signal characterizing a plurality of user actions relating to the second resources.